When digital signals are transmitted across electrical connections, the impedances and other characteristics of the electrical connections have an effect on the signal. Conductors are imperfect to varying degrees, and the transmitted power must be of sufficient level to result in an adequate signal-to-noise ratio where the signal is received.
Electrical signals are typically coded, or are transmitted in a way that maintains the integrity of the signal during transmission and provides for accurate detection of the signal at the receiver. Various types of coding are employed and are known by various terms, including channel coding, line coding, and other types of coding. Channel coding typically comprises methods that are directed at maintaining the integrity of the conveyed data sequence, such as by error correction. Line coding involves converting sequences of digital information into patterns determined to be suitable for transmission.
The coded data is then converted to individual electrical pulses according to the coding schemes, and is transmitted across the transmission line or conductor to a receiver. A system designer generally utilizes a combination of channel coding, line coding, and pulse generation techniques to create a communications system that is robust enough to meet the requirements of a particular application.
One combination of coding and pulse generation that is readily implemented in modern electronics is pulse amplitude modulation. These methods involve encoding data as impulses having one of several levels. For example in a 4-PAM (4-way pulse amplitude modulation) scheme, each data impulse takes one of four levels. Each 4-PAM encoded data impulse can therefore hold the equivalent of two bits of traditional digital information, resulting in a dramatic increase in channel capacity where such schemes are appropriate. But, such schemes are not always appropriate or easy to implement. Phenomena such as intersymbol interference and noise can effectively limit the number of amplitudes that can be discerned with a given impulse given specific voltage and power constraints.
Intersymbol interference is a well-known interference mechanism by which a single symbol or impulse results in symbol interference outside the single symbol's pulse period due to oscillation or bandwidth limitation. For example, what starts as a square wave impulse on a bandwidth-limited transmission line may appear at a receiver to more closely resemble a sinc ((sin(x))/x) pulse having oscillations well before and after the original intended pulse period. These oscillations can cause interference with neighboring signals, resulting in one type of intersymbol interference.
What is desired is a system providing the enhanced data rate of pulse amplitude modulation with enhanced intersymbol interference immunity.